Scout
The morning sun streamed through the cracks in the shed, and Draven and Darius rose early. They silently ate their simple breakfast—just a few pieces of dry, hard black bread and a bowl of thin porridge.
Quilette looked at the two brothers: "Are you really going to go find that family?"
Darius nodded, while Draven silently chewed the last bite of his bread.
After leaving, the two went straight to Aunt Martha. Martha was hanging clothes out to dry in front of her house. When she saw the two brothers, she glanced at Draven and snorted, "Got it?"
Darius nodded. "Could you tell us the name and address of that family?"
Aunt Martha kept working, picked up the tattered sheet, shook it, and draped it over the rope: "The man's name is Rona. He lives in a riverside village about twenty miles downstream from the city moat, in the southeast direction. His house is the most conspicuous in the village—two stories high, with an old locust tree in front of it."
Aunt Martha added, "Both Rona and his wife have round faces; the man has a full beard, and the woman has a mole between her eyebrows."
Draven couldn't help but interject, "Aunt Martha, have you seen that family with your own eyes? Are they really as good as you say?"
“Why would I lie to you? My niece got married in that village last month, and I saw it with my own eyes when I went to the wedding banquet.” Martha sighed, putting down the clothes she was holding. “I really only wanted to help you because I saw how hard Darius was raising you all, but why do you always think I'm trying to harm you…”
Draven wanted to ask something more, but Darius tugged at his arm: "Thanks, ma'am, we'll go take a look now."
The two brothers walked southeast along the moat. The fresh scent of the river mingled with the earthy smell of the fields, a stark contrast to the atmosphere of the slums. Draven kicked at a pebble by the roadside, looking sullen.
"Brother, if that place is really that good..." Draven hesitated, then stopped himself from speaking.
Darius glanced at his brother: "Then Alice will have a good life, won't she?"
"But..." Draven couldn't continue, he just kicked a pebble hard, watching it skip across the river several times.
After walking for about three or four hours, a neat expanse of paddy fields came into view, and the riverside village appeared before us. Dozens of households were scattered along the riverbank, and farmers were working in the fields.
“This should be it.” Darius stopped. “Let’s ask around the village first. You go and ask the children in the village. Kids can know a lot of things. Don’t go directly to their homes.”
After giving his instructions, Darius walked towards a group of peasant women chatting idly under the shade of a tree at the village entrance: "Ladies, is this Riverside Village?"
The peasant women sized up the two strangers. One of the plump women spoke first: "Are you from Riverside Village? Who are you looking for? What do you need?"
"I'd like to ask you all about the Rona family."
"The Rona family?" The women exchanged bewildered glances. "Are you related to the Rona family?"
Darius said, “I heard that the daughter of the Rona family in the riverside village recently passed away. The couple is heartbroken and wants to adopt another child.”
“Their child is indeed gone. On the day of the burial, Rona’s eyes were swollen from crying.”
"That's right, she's his only daughter."
"But I haven't heard that Rona's wife said she wanted to adopt another child. Are you sure you didn't hear the wrong thing?"
A group of women chattered amongst themselves, like five hundred ducks.
“Yes, yes, it was one of my neighbors who told me, Aunt Martha.” Darius felt his head buzzing.
"Martha?? Hey, isn't she Matthew's wife's relative from the city?"
"It seems so..."
"Hey kid, did you come here to become a son of the Rona family?"
After confirming that Darius was not a bad person, the women no longer treated him like an outsider. One of them even stuffed a handful of sunflower seeds into his hand, leaving Darius both amused and exasperated.
“I have a wealthy relative whose family runs a seafood trading business. Some time ago, the couple took the lead and joined forces with several other families in the city to pool their money and form a convoy to transport a shipment of goods to the western inland region. However, they were ambushed by bandits on the way. The convoy didn't have enough guards, and the entire convoy, along with the goods, was wiped out, leaving only their ten-year-old daughter behind…”
The plump woman immediately said, "You want to give your relative's daughter to the Rona family for adoption?!"
“Yes!” Darius nodded. “That relative’s family was originally quite well-off, but they wanted to gamble big and put all their savings into that batch of goods, hoping to make a fortune. In the end, it all went down the drain—even the only house they had left was divided up by their losing partners. The little girl was passed around among us relatives like a football—my branch is the poorest. My brother and I can barely make ends meet, how could we afford to support a pampered young lady!”
“Then the Rona family can afford to support them. The Rona family is the richest in our village! Look at that house, it’s two stories! It’s even more impressive than the village chief’s house.” A tall, thin woman pointed to the only two-story house in the village: “When my husband helped build the house for them two years ago, he said that he used the best timber.”
“It’s not just the house,” a woman holding a baby interjected. “His family owns several acres of excellent paddy fields and dry land. The rice yield is quite good every year, and the winter wheat from the dry land is of superior quality. I heard that several wealthy families in the inner city praise the flour they grind from their wheat and the bread they bake from it!”
The plump woman lowered her voice and said mysteriously, "I've seen carriages from the inner city parked at his house several times. They're said to be from the inner city, and they come here specifically to eat freshly baked wheat bread. They probably gave him a lot of tips when they left. The carriage was very impressive, and the horses pulling it were stronger than the oxen in our village."
The tall, thin woman said with envy, "Fine wheat bread! I heard that the master didn't take the leftovers with him and gave them to his daughter, Suwa. I've lived for over forty years and have only ever eaten fine wheat bread once, when my son brought it back from working in the city."
“Yes, I’ve seen it too.” Another woman sewing shoe soles joined the conversation. “Several times, after that lord left, his daughter Suwa would come out to play the next day and have fine wheat bread to eat. She even shared half of it with my son. I took a bite, and the taste was different from rye bread. It was soft and fragrant, and it even had sugar in it!! No wonder the lords in the city love to eat it.”
They then spoke of Rona's daughter, Suva: "They never let their daughter do farm work. She always wore a clean dress, and her skin was completely different from the dark and rough skin of the country children. Her face was fair and tender, like a peeled egg."
"They wash their child's face with milk!" a woman standing on the side suddenly exclaimed. "Milk! What a waste!"
"Really?" The other women turned to look at the woman, expressing their doubt.
“How could it be fake? My husband saw it when he was picking fruit in the backyard.” The woman said confidently, “My husband said he saw with his own eyes Rona use a handkerchief soaked in milk to wipe Suva’s face! How could he mistake pure white milk? If you ask me, with that spare money, we should buy a few more yards of cloth to make clothes.”
The women gasped, marveling at the extravagance of the Rona family. After someone remarked, "If your relative's daughter really was adopted, her life might not be any worse than in the city," "Rona and his wife are nice people, it's a pity they only have one daughter," and "I heard Rona's wife had a difficult childbirth with Suva," the conversation gradually shifted to other village matters. Darius listened for a while, but finding no further information, he excused himself and went to find Draven. And Draven, usually, was always the one to go in the direction of the loudest, most boisterous noise.
At that moment, Draven was surrounded by a group of children in the village. He stood on a millstone, boasting excitedly:
"...That guy was a head taller than me and as strong as an ox! But I wasn't afraid at all, I just swept my leg!" Draven gestured exaggeratedly, "He fell flat on his face, and when he tried to get up, I stepped on his back, like this—" He stood on one leg, making a stepping motion, "and asked him if he was convinced!"
The children's eyes widened, their faces filled with admiration. One snotty-nosed child asked, "And then? Did he give in?"
"Submit? Of course not!" Draven said smugly. "But it doesn't matter. I twist his arm behind his back, use a little force, and he yells, 'I submit, I submit, big brother, I submit!' Now he avoids me like the plague!"
A girl with pigtails asked timidly, "Do you really have a lot of followers in the city?"
"Of course!" Draven patted his chest. "All the kids in our area look up to me. You know the Black Rat Gang in the south of the city? Even their boss treats me like dirt! If you ever go to the city, just mention my name in my area, and I guarantee no one will dare bully you!"
A skinny little boy asked enviously, "Are there lots of delicious things to eat in the city? My dad went to the city to sell vegetables last time and brought back a piece of candy. It was so sweet!"
Draven, with an air of worldly wisdom, said, "Sugar is nothing! In the city, there are honey cakes, dried fruit, juicy kebabs... lots of good things you've never seen before!"
"Can you really take on three by yourself?" another child pressed.
"More than three! I single-handedly dealt with five troublemakers in the last two months." Draven boasted even more enthusiastically, pointing to the scar from a previous knife slash: "This long cut! I didn't even utter a sound! Another one tried to brandish the knife, but I snatched it away and held it to his neck..."
Just as he was boasting, a thin girl struggled to carry a large bucket of water, trudging across the village path. She was a little girl, about twelve or thirteen years old, wearing tattered clothes covered in patches, filthy black, with tangled, messy hair and dry, yellowish skin.
"Are they from your village too?"
The children followed his gaze, and one of them exclaimed, "It's Ugly Laurie!"
Several mischievous children immediately surrounded her: "Look, it's Ugly Laurie, poor and dirty Ugly Laurie!"
The children stood a meter or two away, circling the dirty girl while chanting a vulgar jingle: "Ugly Laurie has a crazy mother! She stays home all day long! You ask her what's wrong with her? Her mother is mentally ill!"
"Ugly Laurie! Are you fetching water to take a bath?"
"One bucket of water won't get her clean; you'll need at least two!"
"Her crazy old mother still needs a bucket!"
"She could barely wash herself with two buckets of water, and when the water she used was poured under the fruit trees, the trees died the next day!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"My mom says she has a sexually transmitted disease, and water can't wash it away!"
"Ugly Laurie, get back to your home and don't spread your dirty diseases to us!"
A chubby boy suddenly stretched out his leg to trip Laurie. Caught off guard, the girl fell to the ground, her dirty knee hitting a pebble and drawing blood. The bucket also tipped over, spilling water all over the floor.
"Wow! You've run into her! You're going to get a venereal disease too!" a child shouted at the chubby boy who had stretched out his leg.
A group of children scattered and ran away in a flash, as if Laurie really could spread disease. The chubby boy stood there, clearly not expecting that his prank on Laurie would also make him the one shunned. He anxiously shouted at his running friends, "What nonsense are you talking about! I'm not sick! I just tripped her!" Then he hurriedly chased after the children.
It all happened so suddenly that Draven didn't even have time to stop it before it was over. He frowned, jumped off the millstone, and walked towards Laurie, reaching out to help the girl up: "Are you alright?"
But Laurie flung his hand away like a frightened animal, curling up and moving backward, her eyes filled with fear.
Darius then walked over and silently helped the bucket that had fallen to the ground.
Draven looked at Laurie's bleeding knee and felt a pang of sympathy: "Do you need any help? We can take you home and get you a bucket of water."
Laurie kept her head down, her messy hair covering most of her face, and remained silent.
Draven picked up the bucket and said to Darius, "Brother, you watch her, I'll go get the water." Then he ran in the direction Laurie had come from.
A short while later, Draven returned carrying a full bucket of water, panting, and said to Laurie, "Where do you live? We'll help you carry it back."
Laurie remained silent and motionless.
Darius noticed that her injured leg was trembling slightly, so he went over and gently picked her up. The girl immediately struggled and kicked like a frightened wildcat, her fingernails leaving several red marks on Darius's arm.
"Let me go! Let me go!" she finally spoke, her voice hoarse and filled with fear.
Darius quickly put her down and reassured her, "We just wanted to take you home, that's all."
As soon as the girl landed, she used her hands to brace herself and backed away, keeping her distance from the two brothers.
Draven scratched his head: "We're really not bad people! My sister might be coming to stay in your village in a few days, with the richest family in your village—the Rona family! We're here to check things out. If they're really good, my sister will be able to live a good life."
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Laurie's face contorted with even greater terror. Her lips trembled as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she only managed a soft whimper. Ignoring the pain in her leg, she scrambled to her feet and staggered off in one direction.
The two brothers stood there, stunned. After exchanging a glance, Darius picked up the bucket and said, "Let's go and see."
They followed Laurie at a distance, watching her turn into a secluded path. After asking an old farmer who passed by, they learned that Laurie and her mentally ill mother lived on the very edge of the village.
"That child has had a hard life," the old farmer shook his head. "Her mother is insane, and her father ran away long ago. She's only survived this long thanks to the occasional help she receives from the villagers. Do you need her for something?"
Darius gave a vague reply, thanked the old farmer, and continued following Laurie.
Finally, they found a dilapidated wooden hut. The roof was damaged in several places, the walls were crooked, and it looked like it could collapse at any moment. From inside came a woman's incoherent, raving voice: "...It's all your fault! You're a jinx! You all have to die! All of you have to die!"
Darius knocked gently on the door. After a moment, the door opened a crack, and Laurie's wary eyes darted through the crack. Once he saw that it was the two brothers, he slammed the door shut again.
Darius placed the bucket at the doorway and took a few steps back: "I've left the water here for you. We'll be going now."
Draven stepped forward and stood in the doorway, saying, "My sister might be coming to stay in your village from now on, at Rona's house. She's not very bright and has trouble walking. If she gets into any trouble, please help her out. If you can beat them, go for it; if you can't, remember who's behind it all. Come find me, or tell me when I get here! I'll protect you too!"
Laurie, behind the door, pressed her back tightly against it, as if afraid they would force their way in. After hearing Draven's words, her lips moved, but she ultimately said nothing.
The two brothers waited for a while and when nothing happened, they turned and left. Draven couldn't help but look back at the dilapidated hut.
On the way back to town, Draven was unusually silent. Darius glanced at his brother and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Draven kicked away a pebble at his feet: "That family...sounds too good to be true. And that girl, Laurie, her reaction to the Rona family was strange."
Darius nodded. "I noticed that too. But the peasant women are probably telling the truth. The Rona family is indeed wealthy and treats their daughter well."
“But…” Draven frowned, “I just feel like something’s not right. Why is Laurie so scared?…”
Darius sighed. "Perhaps it's just a coincidence. The girl is often bullied by the village children, so it's understandable that she's afraid of strangers."
Draven disagreed: "Bro, I think we should ask around more. Just in case there's something wrong with that place..."
“We’ve been asking around all afternoon,” Darius interrupted him. “Everyone says the Rona family is good. Are you going to dismiss all of that just because of a frightened girl’s reaction?”
"Are you in such a hurry to give Alice away?" Draven yelled at him, then quickened his pace and stormed off ahead alone.
He knew his brother was right, but he didn't want to make a decision about sending Alice away so soon.
The setting sun cast long shadows of the two men, one in front of the other, and they didn't speak a word on the way back to Besilico.
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